Artist's commentary
Run away! It's a book peddler!
Book peddler
This is an occupation that existed from the end of the middle ages through recent times (this is true).
Just as the name says, they were peddlers who visited towns in the countryside, selling and lending books. Since the peasants in the countryside often didn't have their own books, people such as book peddlers also took on the role of delivering political news and improving intelligence (this is also true).
However, among the items that book peddlers dealt with were prohibited books, satire, and books of predictions, or even COMITIA doujinshi; with so much shady stuff, they themselves were treated as shady people, and were often considered to circulate gossip rather than delivering true information (mostly true).
As an aside, the mountain of cardboard boxes containing unsold doujinshi is referred to in the Old Testament as the Tower of Babel, and has been famous for a long time ().